


The Seven Who Knew

by teddymclupin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming Out, Established Relationship, Fear of Discovery, First War with Voldemort, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Marauders' Era, Second War with Voldemort, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 18:47:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15824796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teddymclupin/pseuds/teddymclupin
Summary: The stories of how seven people came to know of the relationship between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.





	The Seven Who Knew

**i. Lily Evans**

The first to find out was Lily. She coaxed Remus into sharing his feelings about Sirius about halfway through the spring term of their fifth year, and after weeks of tedious research studying Sirius’ behavior, she concluded that Sirius had similar feelings for Remus. She encouraged Remus to act on his feelings and right before the end of the term she was informed that he had. And Sirius had reciprocated, just as she predicted he would.

From that point forward, Lily was Remus’ main confidant. She provided him with advice when Remus was conflicted, and she was always eager to hear his stories about any developments within the relationship.

When she began dating James, her and Remus’ friendship grew even stronger. Together they would share stories about their boyfriends, roll their eyes together when the two friends bickered about immature topics, and share secrets about the details of their love lives.

Eventually, Sirius too went to Lily for advice about Remus. First it was just for help with a Christmas gift, but after many months it grew into a trusting friendship in which he shared more intimate thoughts on his relationship.

Lily kept their secret for years and she was one of the only people who truly understood how much each boy meant to the other.

**ii. Euphemia Potter**

In the middle of the summer of 1976 Remus paid a visit to the Potter residence. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were more than happy to have him over, especially considering how much their son and Sirius took to him. 

At first, his visit was the same as always. He followed the two more confident boys around the village during the day. In the evenings he helped clean dishes after dinner. And at night he was heard telling stories of his adventures earlier in the summer with Peter.

But then Euphemia began noticing a difference in how Remus and Sirius interacted. 

First it was the glances they shared during breakfast. Sirius would keep his eyes glued to Remus as the boy listened to James describe his dreams in dramatic detail. Other times there were short looks with a smirk from Sirius that would cause Remus’ cheeks to flush and his silverware to fall from his grip. While these looks were noticed, she didn’t jump to any conclusions about the pair, they were just young boys after all.

Then she found them in the kitchen one night. They were sitting at the kitchen table with cups of tea and a plate of biscuits between them. They sat in the chairs that normally stood on the same side of the table, close together, but the two had them pushed apart to accommodate one of Remus’ long legs, which was outstretched and perched on the lap of Mr. Black. Sirius had a hand on the boy’s ankle.

By walking in, she startled both herself and the boys, both parties being surprised that others were up so late at night. Remus instantly moved his leg, placing his foot on the ground and moving his chair to face the table once more. Sirius stumbled over his words as he explained that they were just having a cuppa since they couldn’t sleep. Euphemia quickly got her glass of water and headed back upstairs, unsure of what to make about what she had just seen.

She wasn’t confident in her assumption about the boys until a few days later when she when she was making breakfast. The house was quiet as it usually was in the mornings. She hadn’t noticed the two boys’ coats missing from the coat rack when she made her way to the kitchen. As always she had assumed she was the first one up. Then she heard the side door close and the sound of whispers from two familiar voices. She recognized Sirius and Remus’ whispers and muffled laughter, and waited to hear her son’s voice along with them, but she quickly realized that the two had been on their own.

Euphemia felt her stomach twist knowing they would have to make their way through the kitchen to reach the rest of the house. She didn’t want to have another awkward encounter with them. At this point she was nearly certain the two had something going on, and she knew it was likely a sensitive subject for them as they were obviously trying to keep it under wraps.

Luckily, they had expected her to be up and greeted her normally when they entered the kitchen. They offered to set the table and she agreed, pretending not to notice the peculiarity of the encounter. They were wearing clean new clothes which indicated that they hadn’t been outside all night, but their shirts were more wrinkled than normal, as if they had been sitting in a pile rather than folded in their drawers upstairs. Most unusual of all, both boys’ lips were flushed and swollen, which she noticed even through their cheery expressions. Nonetheless, she avoided acknowledging anything about the oddity of the moment. Soon enough she had their meal ready and on the table, just in time for James who sulked down the stairs before asking his friends why they were up so early.

From then on, she was certain of what was going on between the boys. She kept their secret for them, hoping they would come to tell James soon – for his own sake.

**iii. Maggie Stanmore**

The next person to learn of their secret was Maggie Stanmore. Poor first year Maggie never expected to stumble across the two boys fumbling about in a cupboard, and yet it happened.

She gasped at the sight and quickly slammed the door shut before hurrying off down the corridor.

Remus, being in a better state than Sirius, quickly adjusted himself and caught up with her. He attempted to calm the young Hufflepuff and was prepared to beg for assurance that she wouldn’t tell anyone what they had been doing. Before he began, he received a promise that she wouldn’t repeat what she had seen. 

He didn’t see her very much over the course of his last two years at Hogwarts, but when they did cross paths they both avoided eye contact. Sirius, on the other hand, offered a wink and a smirk whenever they passed. Despite this, Maggie kept her promise both during and after their time at Hogwarts.

**iv. Severus Snape**

In their seventh year Severus Snape found them together during the Hogwarts Express’ journey back to school after the Christmas holidays. The train was relatively quiet due to the amount of students who had opted to stay at school during the break. This gave Remus and Sirius the chance to have a compartment to themselves. They pulled down the shades on the windows of the compartment as usual, and Remus  _thought_  he had reminded Sirius to lock the door.

When Snape opened the compartment door, the boys weren’t doing anything scandalous per say. The were sitting close together, with Remus sitting in a way that allowed him to rest his head on Sirius’ chest. Sirius had one arm around the boy, while his other arm held a Cauldron Cake out to his side beyond Remus’ reach. 

Until the moment when Snape walked in, the boys had small smiles on their faces as they teased each other and enjoyed the moment alone. The second the door rattled open, their expressions changed. Their smiles dropped and their eyes grew wide in surprise. They couldn’t play off their position as friendly; no friends would nearly sit on each other’s lap in an empty compartment.

At first, Severus shared a similar shocked expression, but after realizing what he just walked in on, he turned and began to run to the next car.  Without missing a beat, the two boys stood up and chased after him, determined to make him promise not to share what he had seen (or if Sirius had it his way, make Snape forget what he had even seen).

Once captured, the Slytherin was dragged into another empty compartment. With wands held to his neck as he was pushed against the closed door, Sirius and Remus reminded him that the Headmaster wasn’t keen on those who shared secrets about others – reminding Severus both of his encounter with Dumbledore after the prank during their fifth year, and of the rumors that spread among students last year about a possible relationship the Headmaster had as a young man.

For the rest of the year, Severus used his knowledge of the pair to throw nasty remarks at the boys, but none so obvious that others might find the insults to be based on fact. One of his comments led to Remus using one of the cruelest hexes he had ever conjured, which resulted in Snape balding and being covered in large pimples for over a month. By the time Severus looked normal again, they were a week or so away from graduating and their encounters would be much less frequent.

**v. Peter Pettigrew**

The last to find out on Hogwarts property was their friend Peter Pettigrew. Peter had noticed the two were closer during their last few years at Hogwarts, but excuses had assured him that the growing friendship was just a consequence of circumstances.

During their sixth year, Sirius played on the Gryffindor quidditch team after one of the beaters injured themselves too badly to complete the season. Because of his new time commitment, Sirius  _had_  to go to the library to study with Lupin. 

In seventh year, it was the pressure of N.E.W.T.s that required Sirius and Lupin to spend so much time together. And unlike Peter and James, they shared most of the same classes, so it only made sense that they work together on their own.

It was during one of the last parties of the year that Peter first began to doubt his ideas about their friendship.

It had been a particularly wild event. All houses were invited to the old divination classroom, which had various alcoves and hiding spots for activities to take place. During the height of the party, Peter stuck to James who was chatting with Lily and her friends in one corner of the room. But between the loud music and the hazy atmosphere (or was that just the booze?), Peter couldn’t stay focused on the conversation.

Instead, his gaze drifted around the room. He watched as students tried to impress one another with jokes or stories or theatrical acts. And then, across the classroom he saw them.

Sirius and Remus were near the front corner of the classroom. Sirius had one hand on Lupin’s shoulder and would periodically pull him closer to say something in his ear, while Remus laughed and tried to push him away with a hand that was already occupied by a bottle of drink. His other hand was held out behind him as a guide, as he slowly walked backwards. After bumping into a bookshelf and a desk he eventually found the handle to the prep room door. He opened it and Sirius nearly pushed him into the new room before the door snapped closed behind them.

Peter stood quietly as he tried to process what he had just seen. Perhaps he was being paranoid. Lately he felt that way a lot. He sometimes got an overwhelming feeling that his friends disliked him. That they preferred each other over him. 

Or perhaps they were completely pissed and were planning a prank. The pissed part was obvious, but there was something about the way Sirius pulled Remus towards him that made Peter doubt the idea.

Then suddenly James was wrapping an arm around his neck, laughing and begging him to retell a story from earlier that year. It brought him out of his daze and he instantly felt less alone. 

**vi. James Potter**

It took James a bit longer than they had expected to  _get it_. He was the first person they were coming out to besides Lily, so perhaps they weren’t that great at explaining things, but Merlin, the boy was dense.

“If you need me to help out so you can afford a two bedroom, I will.”

Sirius explained again that  _no_ , they didn’t want a two bedroom. He and Remus had decided to come out to James by explaining that they planned to move into a one bedroom after James and Lily’s wedding. Unfortunately for them, James just wasn’t getting _why_  they would want to share a one bedroom flat. Remus glanced up at Lily who stood in the kitchen of what was currently James and Sirius’ flat, but was soon to become her and James’ flat. She was pretending to be busy as she prepared a dessert, but he could see she was holding back at laugh at the conversation.

“So you’ll have a one bedroom, and then what? One of you will be sleeping on the couch?”

Sirius buried his face in his hands in frustration. Lily covered her face with her hands in a similar manner, but her action was to prevent a laugh from escaping. 

Finally, Remus stepped in to help settle things. He took a deep breath before he began. “We’ll be moving into a one bedroom flat and we’ll be sharing a bed for the same reason you and Lily share a bed.”

James’ brows furrowed in confusion, and Remus hoped that he was starting to put the pieces together. James opened his mouth to say something, but instead of any sound coming out, it just hung open as he looked from Remus to Sirius, who were both avoiding his gaze.

Lily made her way from the kitchen with a platter of pumpkin pasties and eclairs. She placed it on the coffee table between the boys and placed a hand on her fiancé’s back as she sat down. 

“How they feel for each other is no different than how you and I feel for one another,” she said in her soft, reassuring,  _Lily_  way.

“So you two are…” James began. Remus and Sirius instinctively flinched as they anticipated one of the numerous unsavory words he could use to describe them.

“Together?” he said finally. The boys across from him relaxed slightly and exchanged nervous looks before nodding.

His look of confusion deepened as he began replaying all of his memories of the two, starting with when they were all very young, to more recent ones. Was their any indication that they were a couple? When did it begin? Last month? Third year? Did they shag in his bed at school? If Lily already knew about them, which it appeared that she did, who else knew? Peter?

But then he finally settled on the question that worried him the most.

“Why didn't you tell me earlier?”

As the night went on, they answered some of James’ questions. They didn’t tell him earlier because, frankly, they were scared. He used to say some pretty offensive things when he was younger, but even as he grew out of it, they were still uneasy about what he might think. Peter, on the other hand, still hadn’t been told as he continued dropping ‘jokes’ and comments about effeminate men every once in a while. They wanted to tell him, just not now. They could wait until he became comfortable with the idea of two men being together. 

They answered his other questions too. They explained how their relationship began and Lily’s knowledge of it. They didn’t go into any explicit detail about things, but Remus and Lily both knew Sirius would probably explain those topics to James at some point over butterbeers.

And finally they assured him that, no, they hadn’t shagged in his bed at school.

**vii. Molly Weasley**

Like Euphemia Potter, it didn’t take Molly Weasley long to realize that the connection between Sirius Black and Remus Lupin went beyond a close friendship. It may have been a motherly instinct that led her to the conclusion that the men saw each other as partners. After all, mothers have the ability to pick up on the tiniest of details and instantly know. 

For instance, when Fred and George would pretend to switch places in order to trick her, she would go along with it, just to see them smirk in success. Or when Ginny and Harry finally began dating after years of Ginny perking up at any mention of Harry, despite her instance that she didn’t care about him or his decisions. 

It also could have been that she was as close to an expert as one could be on male friendships. She had spent her entire life around boys and men; between her brothers and her sons, she had seen how men acted in every scenario. She had seen affectionate friendships – like that of her brothers and Jacob Horsely, all three of which would take turns laying across the others on the Gryffindor common room couch in their school days. 

She had seen secret loves. Like Percy snatching up letters from Penelope before his brothers could steal them and then barricading himself in his room as he wrote responses for the rest of the day. And then when he was asked about her at meals, his eyes would stare at his food as he gave indirect answers. 

Or it could have been her age and experiences. In her years she had seen her share of pining friends and secret relationships. She knew what the looks across the table at Order meetings meant. She knew what the excuses sounded like when she came across one of the men sneaking out of the other’s room in the middle of the night. She knew why the two would sit shoulder to shoulder in the drawing room when they were alone in the expansive room.

While she caught on rather quickly, her lips were sealed. Just like with Percy, she dared not acknowledge the topic. Instead, like with all of her children’s secrets, she pretended she didn’t even know.

And then Sirius was killed.

For the first week, Remus didn’t leave his room at 12 Grimmauld Place. While he was offered every meal, he didn’t eat much besides some toast. With the guise of worry over his eating habits, Molly forced his door unlocked and forced him to finish a meal. She was stern and unwavering until she was sure he had finished the majority of the stew and roll, and once he had finished she waited for him to share his grief. It didn’t take long for him to begin to explain the hurt he felt.

He explained that it was just like after the Potters’ deaths, but worse, because this time he was truly alone. And that he could have done something to prevent it, but he didn’t. And it was difficult last time, but now how could he go on? After he thought he had gotten at least a sliver of what he used to have back.

And Molly did what came naturally to her. She comforted him. She too had lost parts of her family in the war, but somehow she was able to move forward. She was able to find love in new places, and in places that existed all along. And yes, Sirius was special, but Remus still had those who needed him. 

When she closed his door as she left, she hoped she had said the right things. Because even though mothers know, they don’t always articulate it in the best ways. It took Remus another night, but the next morning, he came downstairs and helped with breakfast. And when Harry came home for the summer, he was the one to comfort him. And a few months later, when the pink hair girl moved in, she saw him start to truly heal.

**Author's Note:**

> While I feel like a lot of people jump on the bandwagon of very open and out wolfstar, I never could imagine them being so obvious about their relationship. Despite this, I definitely think people beyond Lily and James knew, especially considering Snape's comparison to them acting like an old married couple in POA. I probably could have added a few more characters who found out, but I liked the idea of only a few people really knowing. Oh well, hope you enjoyed it :)


End file.
